Dog Hair in Everything I Do

OK. We are all dog people, so let's be honest.

Me might try to downplay it to our non-doggy friends, but dog hair is a constant presence in our existance. Some pups shed more than others, from none at all (you lucky poodle and lhasa owners!) to mountains of furry fun (gotta love the dogs with a double coat!). But whether it's removing hair from the dog or removing it from ourselves, we all have to deal with dog hair one way or another. It not only affects our wardrobe choices, it also shortens the lifespan of our appliances, and makes vacuuming and sweeping a much more regular occurrence than normal!

No, that's not a new toupee that Brutus is sporting - it's actually hair from Mason that I noticed had ended up on his head. Yep, that's right - Mason sheds on Brutus!!

For me, there are three sources of hair, including one posthumous; Duncan's white, needle-like hairs still mysteriously grace many objects in the house:

Just like the terrier they came from, the hairs are tenacious - woven stubbornly into fabrics, even got one stuck in my foot like a splinter! As much as I miss old Duncan (he crossed the rainbow bridge last September), I could do without his hair.

Mason, on the other hand - Sheesh! He is one hairy labradude! Yeah, he looks all brown, soft & cuddly...

... but he has a wiry, white undercoat that never stops shedding. 90% of the hair I deal with comes from him (the other 10% being split between Duncan & Brutus). It quickly fills my vacuum (gotta love the Dyson), the lint filter in the dryer, and accumulutales at an alarming rate around the baseboards of my home. Here is a mature tumblefur, ready for harvesting (aka sweeping), after only one day:

You just touch mason & the fur flies.

The only thing that has any impact on Mason's shed rate (other than shaving him, which we used to do before he was old & lumpy) is a Furminator.

Don't know where I'd be without mine - probably buried under a mountain of brown fur! I have to do it outside, then actually rake the fur off the grass & fill a big trash bag!

Hey, at least we dog people are great consumers - you might say that shedding supports the economy. I'm talking about the hundreds of products you can buy at pet stores that are supposed to stop shedding (supplements, food) or brushes to control it. Or the small fortune spent annually on professional grooming. Just walk down the cleaning product aisle at any grocery or hardware store and count how many products are devoted to pet hair removal! And who would ever be crazy enough to leave home without a lint roller??

Thankfully, Brutus is not much of a shedder. His shiny black coat stays attached to him for the most part! The only grooming required is an occasional rubber curry - even after several minutes of massaging him with one, I'm hard-pressed to have a handful of short, fine, black hair. He also loves to be "rolled" (see prior post). At least ONE thing about Brutus is low-maintenance....

If you biggify, you'll see that is actually Mason's hair on Brutus!!

If the pictures aren't enough, here is a fun song devoted to the topic of dog hair. It was written by a local woman who competes in agility and dock diving. It pretty much sums up how we all have learned to cope with ever-present dog fur! Hope you can watch enjoy it! (If stoopid Blogger won't let you see it, go to YouTube & search "Dog Hair in Everything I Do" by Randi Breese)